


Oh, The Water

by moderatelybowling



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Falling In Love, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 00:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3508955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moderatelybowling/pseuds/moderatelybowling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Steve and Bucky's important firsts</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, The Water

The first time Steve Rogers sees the boy, it’s early summer and he’s limping home after another encounter with a bully. The boy is clamoring out of out of a car that is packed full with brown cardboard boxes, a moving van parked close by. His dark, messy hair is pulled back into a bun, and despite the obvious expensiveness of the car he’s climbing out of and the house he’s walking into, his clothes are worn and ill-fitting. Steve sees a put-together looking couple climb out of the car after the boy, the man barking an order that the boy flinches at. He hears another yell as the door to the house closes behind the family. Steve’s leg gives a twinge, and he continues on his way.

///

Steve first makes eye contact with the boy on a rainy June day. It’s finals week and Steve is huddled on his front stoop, pouring over his math notes, sheltered from the rain by the overhang. As he sips from the mug of tea he brought outside with him, he notices the boy wandering down the sidewalk, seemingly unbothered by the rain. Despite his messy hair and torn clothes, the boy is strikingly handsome. Steve tries the set his mug down without taking his eyes off of the boy, but the mug tips and tumbles down the steps. The boy startles and turns towards the noise, his eyes meeting Steve’s. Steve sees a tiny smile on the boy’s face before he turns away and disappears around a corner.

///

The boy first speaks to Steve a week later. Steve is behind the local diner, trying to fight back against his latest tormenter. Recovering from a particularly nasty blow that’s left him on the ground, Steve hears a yelp and feels another body drop down next to his own. The bully quickly rolls to his feet and runs off, spitting curses as he holds his ribs. Suddenly Steve is being tugged back to his feet and hands are roughly brushing the dirt from his torso. Squinting through a rapidly swelling black eye, he sees the boy in front of him. He’s saying something in a rough but quiet voice, too quiet for Steve’s bad ears.

“What’d you say?” he asks.

“I said my name’s Bucky,” the boy repeats. He still hasn’t taken his hands off of Steve’s shoulders, as if he’s frightened of Steve falling down again. Bucky seems to realize this at the same time as Steve. He quickly takes a step back and shoves his hands into his pockets.

“Oh. My name’s Steve,” Steve says, sticking out his hand. He blushes when he realizes how out of place the formal gesture is, seeing as though Bucky has just caught him getting pummeled behind a diner. To his relief, Bucky quickly grabs his hand and shakes. He looks slightly uncomfortable, like he’s not used to holding polite conversation. Steve feels bad for him. He’s heard the yelling from Bucky’s house, since their houses are only a few lots apart. An awkward silence falls upon the boys, both of them too nervous to even meet each other’s eyes. Bucky finally breaks the silence by mumbling something about chores, and then scampers out of the alley, leaving Steve alone and blushing.

///

Steve first calls Bucky a friend a two weeks after they first speak. After that day in the alley Bucky pops up more and more until he is eventually a near constant presence at Steve’s side. It doesn’t matter if Steve is in the grocery store, the library, or the hardware store. If Steve is there then Bucky can be found lurking silently by his side. They don’t speak much at first, but everyday Bucky seems to relax more and more until their conversations come as easy as breathing. Bucky somehow never ends up coming into Steve’s house, always quickly mumbling an excuse before disappearing to wherever he goes when he isn’t following Steve around like a lost puppy. After the fifth time, Steve puts his foot down and nearly drags Bucky through his front door. Steve’s mother, in the middle of making dinner, raises an eyebrow as she watches her son shove a very unkempt and nervous looking boy into her house.

“Ma, this is my friend Bucky,” Steve announces louder than necessary. “If you need anything, we’ll be upstairs.” She doesn’t have any time to respond, as Steve quickly herds a now embarrassed _and_ nervous Bucky up the stairs and towards Steve’s room. Despite the briefness of the encounter, she doesn’t miss the way that Bucky’s cheeks burn at the word ‘friend.’

///

The first time Steve and Bucky fall asleep together is about a month later. Since the day that Steve dragged Bucky into his house, it seems like a barrier between the boys has broken. They’re completely inseparable, to the point where Steve’s mother starts setting out a third setting at meals. One night, long after Mrs. Rogers has gone to bed and the lights all along the street have gone out, Steve and Bucky are still curled up on the couch watching movies. The only light in the room is the pale blue flicker of the movie that’s on, one that they’ve both already seen too many times to count. They’re both crammed into one side of the couch, Bucky’s arm draped over Steve’s tiny frame. They’re both desperately trying to stay awake, not wanting to be the first to fall asleep. Steve finally loses the fight as he slumps down onto Bucky’s chest, asleep almost instantly. Bucky smiles softly down at him as he mutes the movie, meaning to finish it and then wake Steve up so they can move upstairs. He’s fast asleep within five minutes, plan completely forgotten, movie still throwing soft flickers of light over the two boys’ faces.

Mrs. Rogers finds them still curled up together in the morning while she’s leaving for an early shift at the hospital. She smiles as she takes in the sight of Bucky with his arms wrapped protectively around Steve, who is draped completely over his friend’s front. She covers them with a blanket, turns off the TV, and leaves them to sleep.

///

The first time that Bucky thinks of the Rogers' house as his home is when he’s helping Steve and his mother bake a pie for their church’s bake sale. Steve’s mother is telling a story from her years in high school that has Steve and Bucky in hysterics as they desperately try to follow the recipe’s directions for making the crust. They’re both absolutely covered flour, since they have somehow managed to make baking a pie the most difficult thing in the world. With his face covered in flour and his ribs sore from laughing, Bucky realizes that there is no where else in the world he would rather be. He realizes that he is at home, where he belongs, with the people that he loves the most in the world.

///

The first time that Steve realizes he’s in love with Bucky, they’re on Steve’s back steps and the sun is just starting to set. They’re sitting side by side on the stairs, their shoulders and thighs pressed together. Steve glances over at Bucky and just like that, he knows. Bucky’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, with his messy hair and his ripped jeans and his bright, bright smile. Steve doesn’t think twice before he admits it out loud, because it’s Bucky and he has to tell him. Steve tells Bucky everything, and this is no exception.

“Buck?’ Steve whispers.

“Mmm?” Bucky hums in response, eyes not leaving the sunset.

“Bucky, I think I’m in love with you.” Bucky jerks in response to the confession, staring at Steve with wide eyes. Steve stares back, suddenly realizing the seriousness of what he’s just admitted. He tries to keep his breathing even, knowing that this isn’t the best time for an asthma attack.

He almost loses that fight against the asthma attack when Bucky whispers back “I love you too, Stevie,” and leans in towards Steve.

///

The first time that Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes kiss, the sun is just beginning to set. They sit on the back stoop of Steve’s house, the house that has become Bucky’s home. Bucky leans in towards his best friend and lightly brushes his mouth against Steve’s, just the whisper of a kiss. When he pulls back they just stare at each other for a moment, before Steve breaks the silence with a tiny chuckle. Bucky grins back, and leans in again. Their kisses stay soft and slow and unhurried. They stay there together in the setting sun, bathed in warm light and the soft sounds of their neighborhood, until the sun finally sets. When the last light has faded and the stars are just starting to shine in the sky, they slowly get up, hands joined, and walk together back into their home.

**Author's Note:**

> title from And It Stoned Me by Van Morrison  
> this is unbetaed and most of it was written at 2am while i was half asleep, so sorry for any mistakes i missed.


End file.
